OXFORD United’s late defeat to Chelsea Under-21s meant Matty Taylor wasn’t in the mood for celebrating, despite hitting a milestone at the club.

The 32-year-old netted the opener in the Papa John’s Trophy loss, a goal which saw him move joint-ninth in United’s goalscoring charts.

A typical poacher’s strike, the 10th-minute effort from within the six-yard box saw Taylor grab his 60th goal for the U’s.

It moved him level with Billy Rees, with Bud Houghton and Paul Moody next in Taylor’s sights.

Both players scored 75 goals for United.

On his landmark goal, Taylor said: “It’s not a night I’ll probably remember to be honest but it’s nice to score again obviously and hopefully I can start scoring more regularly, and really kick-start my season.

“It’s come off my shin pad with the smallest of touches but I’ve been due one of them.

“It’s nice to see it go in, and be back playing on the pitch with the boys but it’s a disappointing result.

“Let’s look forward to Saturday and hope we can perform, and get a positive result.

“It’s been mixed results but we’re working hard to improve that.

“I feel like we’ve been training the last few weeks really well.”

Two goals in the space of four minutes saw the U’s slip to defeat in the Southern Group G clash.

Mason Burstow scored the first, in the 78th minute, with an exquisite lob over Simon Eastwood.

The 19-year-old collected the ball on the halfway line and drifted infield towards the centre circle, before unleashing a spectacular dinked effort which sailed over Eastwood and into the net.

Chelsea’s second came when 18-year-old Lewis Hall produced some neat footwork to create himself enough space, to then power in a shot into the roof of the net.

Taylor was full of praise for both finishes from the Chelsea youngsters.

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He said: “We wanted win win the game. We got ahead and created a few openings, and some nice moves and moments going forward, but just couldn’t get the second goal.

“Ultimately they’ve got back in the game with a worldie goal and the second goal is a good finish.

“We’re disappointed with how the goals got to those situations, and we’ve just got to be better.”

The manner in which United lost the match though was a source of frustration for Taylor, as he admitted his teammates should’ve used their experience to ensure they picked up the three points.

“We should be seeing games out like that and using our nous, and getting through the game,” he said.

“We should be limiting their chances but they’re obviously at Chelsea for a reason.

“It’s disappointing but we can’t change that now and we’ve got to look forward to Saturday.”